The Dutch international picked up the trophy for North East football writers’ player of the year.

But the troubled Magpies find themselves haunted by relegation, and Janmaat said: “For him (McClaren), it is hard as well.

“He came in the summer with a lot of ambitions.

“We bought some new players in and we all expected more from the start of the season.

“It’s disappointing and I understand it but there are still 24 games to go.”

Janmaat feels Newcastle can fight their way out of trouble.

He said: “It is not over still, we have chances enough.

“We have to put it right quickly.”

Janmaat was delighted to pick up the player of the year award, and said: “It’s a big thing for me.

“I always work hard and when you get something like this back, it’s really nice.

“It’s great for me and a lot of great names have won this award, like (Alan) Shearer and (Peter) Beardsley, some of the biggest names to have played for the club.

“I’m really proud of it.”

Meanwhile, McClaren has urged his players not to give up and said: “We have to stay calm, keep doing the right things and keep delivering the right messages and keep saying ‘you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that’.